The organizers are pleased to announce the next JVC Essay Prize competition. The aim of the prize is to promote scholarship among postgraduate research students working on the Victorian period in any discipline in the UK and abroad.
The Journal inaugurated the prize in 2007, and our past winners include Louise Lee, Tiffany Watt-Smith, Bob Nicholson, Tom Scriven, Roisín Laing and Lucy Whitehead, whose essays appear in issues 13.1 (2008), 15.1 (2010), 17.3 (2012), 19.1 (2014), 21 4 (2016) and 24. 4 (2019) and are freely available to read online.
The winner's prize will consist of:
- Publication of the winning essay in Journal of Victorian Culture
- £100 cash prize
- £250 worth of OUP books
- One year's free subscription to Journal of Victorian Culture
Runners-up whose entries are of sufficient quality may be invited to publish their submissions in the Journal.
Competition Rules
Word limit: maximum of 7000 words, plus an abstract (250 words) and a word count.
Closing date for submissions: 31 May 2021.
Entrants should follow MHRA style, with footnotes rather than endnotes.
The competition will open to anyone currently registered for a higher research degree, or who has been awarded one within the previous 3 years. An entry form will be available on JVC Online and on the Journal website. Applicants who are completing doctoral degrees are advised to check with their institutions any regulations covering the publication of material extracted from their theses prior to the submission of the whole thesis.
The essay may be on any aspect of Victorian culture appropriate for the scope of the journal (this embraces literature and history, including cultural, intellectual, social, political, economic and religious history; the history of music, science, technology, medicine, theatre and visual culture; historical geography, archaeology and museum/heritage studies).
The editorial board welcomes essays that adopt an interdisciplinary approach to their subject matter. However, the board also encourages essays which, while focusing on one sub-discipline, reflect on the implications of their argument for other Victorian studies constituencies. Authors should keep in mind this question: how is this research of interest to other Victorianists?
Essays must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere and should not be submitted to any other journal until the outcome of the competition is known. All published essays will be subject to the same copyright terms as everything else published in JVC.
Entries should be submitted to the journal in the normal manner via JVC online submission system. Please ensure that you select ‘prize essay’ in the Submission type box and you must also upload a completed JVC Essay Prize entry form with your submission.
The decision of the judges will be final and no correspondence will be considered. There is only one prize and the judges reserve the right to award no prize if submitted material is not of an appropriate standard. The judges for the prize will be members of the Editorial Board of Journal of Victorian Culture. The process of selection will, accordingly, fulfil the requirements of peer review. The judges reserve the right to recommend revisions to the prize-winning essay prior to publication.